Thunderstorms prompt overland flood warning in southern Manitoba
A phrase that Manitobans became all too familiar with during an extremely wet spring has resurfaced: overland flood warning.
A weather system bringing heavy rain to areas south of Highway 1 and Highway 16 prompted the provincial government to issue the latest warning.
Between 25 and 150 millimetres of rain could fall through Tuesday before tapering off overnight, the province said.
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Localized overland flooding is possible in areas with heavier rainfall, the province said in a Twitter post Monday afternoon.
Thunderstorms moved into Manitoba on Monday night and will be crossing the southern part of the province through the day, according to Environment Canada, which has issued severe thunderstorm watches for a number of areas.
Around 5 a.m. there was a tornado warning in the region around St. Jean Baptiste and the rural municipality of Morris, but that has since ended.
"It looks like the strongest wind gusts we've received were 117 km/h in Baldur [southeast of Brandon], so not as severe but definitely severe," Environment Canada meteorologist Kayla Bilous said.
The town of Teulon, in Manitoba's Interlake region, has more flooding now than in the spring, says the mayor. (Randall McKenzie/CBC)
"We haven't got any reports of damage so far, but we'll probably hear of some."
Social media has been busy, however, with reports of power outages and basement flooding in parts of the province.
The earliest storms are likely to diminish during the morning but the conditions will redevelop in the afternoon, Environment Canada said in its watch alerts.
Ditches full, power out
The Interlake town of Teulon is well north of the Trans-Canada Highway, but was still hit hard by Monday's early band of storms.
Mayor Anna Pazdzierski said the rain has been so heavy that the water in her yard is deep enough for a child to swim in it.
"I checked my neighbour's rain gauge — 4½ inches [114 mm] and climbing since this morning. It started about 4 a.m. The skies have opened up."
She described the rain as coming down in sheets at times during the morning.
"Ditches are full, power is out in half of the town. People are trying to get gas for their generators, to keep their sump pumps running, [but] two of the gas stations have no power," Pazdzierski said around 8 a.m. Tuesday, before power in the area was restored around noon.
"In most of the town, we have more water now than we had in the spring flood. There's water laying everywhere."
Manitobans experienced a spring that brought some of the most severe flooding on record, including the fourth-largest Red River flood ever recorded.
"Unprecedented rains, on top of very saturated soils, resulted in significant and widespread overland flooding across the province," stated a report last month from the Manitoba Hydrologic Forecast Centre.
From April 1 to June 19, much of the Red River basin got over 330 millimetres of rain — more than double the normal amount during that period.
The story was originally published for CBC News. It contains files from Meaghan Ketcheson.